Twins assistant General Manager Rob Antony confirmed that righthander P.J. Walters will start on Saturday and that the club will announce the roster move after the game. The Twins have to clear space on both their 25-man and 40-man rosters to make space for Walters, so things will be interesting after the game.

Walters, in nine starts at Rochester, was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA.

Pedro Florimon said his sprained index finger was better, but manager Ron Gardenhire said he wants to watch Florimon during pre-game work before he will be comfortable using Florimon off the bench tonight.

Justin Morneau said the pitch he was hit with in Atlanta is not bothering him at all.

Trevor Plouffe (concussion) spent pre-game doing, ``the most cardio work I've ever done in my life," he said. He feels no lingering effects from the knee to the head he received from Dan Uggla in Atlanta while sliding into second. Plouffe has passed an ImPACT test and is now building up to rejoin the team when his seven days on the concussion list have passed.

Chart

From the Sports Features Group, the league leaders in swinging strikeouts:

Yu Darvish*, Rangers, 74
Matt Harvey, Mets, 59
Max Scherzer, Tigers, 58
Jeff Samardzija, Cubs, 56
Felix Hernandez, Mariners, 55
A.J. Burnett*, Pirates, 54
Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners, 54
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals, 54
Anibal Sanchez, Tigers, 51
Justin Verlander, Tigers, 51
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, 51


Longest losing streak in 2012: 6 games, April 21-27

Longest losing streak since 11 games, September 9-21, 2011

Since May 2 five Twins starters have pitched at least 6.0 innings:

- 5/5, Mike Pelfrey (6.0 IP) at Cleveland
- 5/7, Scott Diamond (7.0 IP) at Boston
- 5/10, Mike Pelfrey (6.0 IP) vs. Baltimore
- 5/14, Kevin Correia (7.0 IP) vs. Chicago-AL
- 5/17, Vance Worley (6.0) vs. Boston

Twins (18-26)

1. Jamey Carroll, 3B
2. Joe Mauer, C
3. Josh Willingham, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Oswaldo Arcia, LF
6. Chris Parmelee, RF
7. Eduardo Escobar, SS
8. Aaron Hicks, CF
9. Brian Dozier, 2B

Pitching: Samuel Deduno, RHP

Tigers (26-19)

1. Andy Dirks, LF
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Miggy, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Don Kelly, CF
9. Asivail Garica, RF

Pitching: Annibal Sanchez, RHP